Here Are Final Late Night Ratings for Q3 2024

Note: LateNighter generally posts late night weekly live-plus-seven quarterly ratings on a seven (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.

Third quarter is traditionally a quiet, rerun-heavy time for TV, including late-night. Jimmy Kimmel didn’t even host his show for most of the summer, with ABC appointing a rotation of guest hosts to lead the network’s 11:35 p.m. late-night talker.

ABC’s and NBC’s late-night offerings predictably shed viewers in Q3 relative to the spring quarter. However, the late-night shows with a heavy politics/news focus—namely Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert— continued to perform well over this summer, driven by presidential campaign news and live shows focused on the 2024 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

The Daily Show was the only late night show across broadcast or cable to deliver quarter-to-quarter audience gains in multiple measurements. Primarily hosted by Jon Stewart on Mondays and a rotation of TDS correspondents Tuesday-Thursday, The Daily Show averaged 1,063,000 total viewers with 191,000 P18-49 viewers in Q3 2024, per Nielsen live-plus-seven-day data. That’s up +6% and +3%, respectively, from the previous quarter (Q2 ’24). Comedy Central aired 29 new episodes of The Daily Show in Q3, down from 43 in Q2.

Excluding rebroadcasts, CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert averaged 2,495,000 total viewers with 268,000 P18-49 viewers in the third quarter of 2024, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data. Once again, that’s more than its network counterparts in the key measurements. The Late Show shed -1% in total viewers and -1% in P18-49 viewers from Q2 ’24. CBS aired 30 new episodes of The Late Show in Q3 ’24, down from 39 in Q2.

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon split second place in the 11:35 p.m. timeslot this past quarter. Excluding rebroadcasts, The Tonight Show averaged 1,295,000 total viewers with 218,000 P18-49, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data for Q3 2024. That’s down -9% and -2%, respectively, from Q2. Jimmy Kimmel Live!, led by a rotation of guest hosts over the summer, averaged 1,371,000 total viewers with 176,000 P18-49. That’s down -28% and -28%, respectively, from Q2 ’24 — when Kimmel hosted the show. NBC aired 32 new episodes of The Tonight Show in Q3 (down from 41 in Q2), and ABC aired 31 new episodes of Kimmel in Q3 (down from 45 in Q2).

NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers beat its 12:35 a.m. counterparts in Q3, both in total viewers and among P18-49. Excluding rebroadcasts, the program averaged 928,000 total viewers with 149,000 P18-49, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data for Q3 ’24. That’s down -9% and -5%, respectively, from Q2. NBC aired 26 new episodes of Late Night in Q3, down from the 32 in Q2.

Excluding rebroadcasts, CBS’ After Midnight averaged 658,000 total viewers with 136,000 P18-49 viewers in Q3 ’24, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data. That’s down -4% and -8%, respectively, from the show’s Q2 averages. CBS aired 22 new episodes of After Midnight in Q3, down from 35 in Q2.

ABC’s half-hour news offering Nightline also shed viewers in Q3 2024, averaging 736,000 total with 104,000 P18-49, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data. That’s down -16% and -20%, respectively, from the show’s Q2 averages in those measurements. Nightline also shed -8% in total viewers and -12% in P18-49 viewers from the year-ago quarter (Q3 2023). ABC aired 56 new episodes of Nightline in Q3 2024, down from 62 in Q2.

Lastly, Fox News’ Gutfeld! , a late-night-style show which airs in primetime (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), averaged 2.93 million total viewers with 441,000 P25-54 and 282,000 P18-49 in Q3 ’24, per Nielsen live-plus-seven-data; the largest quarterly audiences in the show’s history.

*With the exception of The Daily Show, each of these late night offerings air five nights a weekOnly first-run episode data is included in the averages below. Rebroadcasts and specials are excluded.

Live+7 ratings (Viewers 2+)

NetworkShow Name / (# of First-Run Episodes)Total Viewers% Share
11:00 PM
CCThe Daily Show (29)1,063,0002.77
11:35 PM
ABCJimmy Kimmel Live! (31)1,371,0004.98
CBSThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert (30)2,495,0009.05
NBCThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (32)1,295,0004.88
12:35 AM
ABCNightline (56)736,0003.51
CBSAfter Midnight (22)658,0003.42
NBCLate Night With Seth Meyers (26)928,0005.02
* = 30-minute program

Live+ 7 ratings (18-49 demo)

NetworkShow Name / (# of First-Run Episodes)Viewers% Share
11:00 PM
CCThe Daily Show (29)191,0002.41
11:35 PM
ABCJimmy Kimmel Live! (31)176,0003.07
CBSThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert (30)268,0004.65
NBCThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (32)218,0003.93
12:35 AM
ABCNightline (56)104,0002.27
CBSAfter Midnight (22)136,0003.20
NBCLate Night With Seth Meyers (26)149,0003.70
* = 30-minute program

© The Nielsen Company, used under license.

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1 Comment

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  1. Thebrit says:

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